Ebb And Flow
by Sinnamon Spider
Summary: A collection of challenge response drabbles, lumped into one convenient location. Various pairings, but heavy J/E.
1. A Matter Of Hats

Important A/N: I decided to collect all my responses to the challenges into one fic, so as to not clutter everything up. Many thanks to those who reviewed these drabbles when they stood alone; unfortunately, I lost those reviews, but I am very grateful to anyone who took the time to comment, and I do apologize for mucking up anyone who favourited the originals. Thanks again!

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Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: So the lovely **Nytd**, who has been gracious enough to review pretty much all of my little stories here, inspired me to check out the Broken Compass forum, which I found quite to my liking. I also decided it was high time I started doing these 100-word challenge drabbles, since they're infinitely useful – sometimes the little plot bunnies evolve into big plot bunnies, or sometimes the drabble defuses a raging muse who bangs away inside your head at three in the morning when you have to work at seven. And thus my first challenge response is dedicated to Nytd. I hope she (and all of you) will both excuse this heinously long author's note and enjoy the fic!

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Prompt: "Egregious"

**A Matter of Hats  
**By: Sinnamon Spider

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"Really, Liz, it's a question of style. How one looks is of utmost importance to a pirate; after all, we're so often judged on appearance alone." He waves a be-ringed hand in her direction.

She looks down at her clothes, spreading her hands helplessly. "I really couldn't help what Sao Feng dressed me in, Jack."

He snorts. "Well, Sao Feng always has had a terrible fashion sense." He squints at her, his expression still disapproving. "At least do us a favour and lose the hat, love?"

She clamps her hands over the hat. "No. I like it. You lose your hat."

His slack jaw and outraged eyes say everything necessary about this most egregious suggestion.

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	2. Sundar

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: Just a few notes about certain words:  
sundar: "beautiful" in Hindi  
choli: a midriff-baring blouse worn in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and other countries where the sari is worn.  
lengha: a skirt worn with a choli, also called a gypsy skirt or gopi skirt.  
Lakshmi: Hindu goddess of fortune, wealth, abundance, and beauty.

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Prompt: "Indian"

**Sundar  
**By Sinnamon Spider

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When she stepped into the cabin they shared, his jaw dropped.

She was wearing a stunning outfit of emerald green silk, so finely spun it was nearly transparent. The choli was embroidered with silver thread in a pattern that resembled vines, and the neckline was embellished with silver and studded with emeralds. It ended just above her navel, leaving her creamy midriff bare. The long, billowy lehnga was embroidered with the same vine pattern along the hem. Her feet were bare, except for a beautiful, intricate design done in brown-red henna. The same design was also decorating her slim hands. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a low braid. As she walked, tiny bells that were sewn into the hem of the lehnga tinkled, providing a fairy-like music.

She spun slowly around, letting him drink her in. "You look like a goddess," he purred, rising from his low-slung chair and walking toward her. "Might I offer my devotion, Lakshmi?"

She swatted him. "Don't. I'm so nervous."

He arched a dark eyebrow. "Nervous, my King? About what? It's just another routine meeting with another Pirate Lord."

She shook her head. "I just know I'm going to make a fool of myself." She straightened her clothes, fidgeting anxiously. He was perplexed. Usually she was so confident. "How?" he asked.

She grimaced. "I keep remembering Sri Sumbhajee during the meeting of the Brethren."

He shrugged, still confused. All he could remember was his father shooting one of the Indian Pirate Lord's idiotic retainers for daring to challenge the Code.

"That voice!" she said desperately. "I know the minute he speaks to me, I'm going to giggle like a schoolgirl!"

Suddenly, the squeaky, high-pitched voice echoed in Jack's head. _"And so, we shall go to war!"_

He burst out laughing, and Elizabeth threw him a tortured look. "Exactly! I know that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

He laughed harder, and she was helpless, giving in to the compulsion that had nagged at her since he had announced that India was the next stop on their tour.

When they were finally face to face with the serious, stately Lord of the Indian Ocean, he greeted them gravely, his shrill voice exactly as they remembered. Elizabeth summoned every bit of dignity and breeding she had, and responded with a straight face.

Jack had to disguise his hysterics as a dramatic fit of coughing.

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	3. Arrivederci

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: This "missing scene" takes place between Year Two and Three of my fic "Between Dark and Light: A Decade of Love" (and yes, that was a shameless plug). Enjoy!

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Prompt: Wave. Elizabeth teaches William to wave goodbye, with some unexpected help.

**Arrivederci**  
By Sinnamon Spider

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"Can you wave bye-bye? Wave bye-bye, William." Elizabeth waved her hand at her son. He held up his chubby little hand and she waited eagerly, but he simply curled his fingers into a fist and stuffed it in his mouth. She sighed.

Jack chuckled from the corner of the cabin. "It would seem that your son is taking after his father in terms of smarts, love," he teased. Elizabeth shot him a dirty look. "Honestly, I wish you would stop insulting Will. He's really quite clever."

Jack rose to his feet, crossing the room. "Oh, certainly, when it comes to getting us into all kinds of unnecessary and inconvenient situations, there's no one better. But when it comes to simple common sense, he's not the sharpest sword in the sheath. Am I right, love?"

But Elizabeth's attention was on her son. He was watching Jack, who was talking in his usual animated way, with extravagant gestures. The baby pulled his fist from his mouth, and tilted his head, then flapped his hand at the pirate.

Elizabeth squealed. "That's right!" She knelt down and waved at William. He beamed up at her and mimicked the motion. "That's it! Wave bye-bye!" She waved again, and again her son copied the movement.

She turned a delighted face to Jack, who had been watching the exchange. "Thank you, Jack, that was brilliant." She returned her attention to her baby. "Wave again! Wave again, William!"

Jack spread his hands. "What did I do?"

Elizabeth looked back at him and waved her hands, imitating his own movements. "Are you certain there's no Italian somewhere in your heritage?"

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	4. As To A Lover

Disclaimer: All recognizable character belong to Disney.

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So in response to Barbossa's Monkey's prompt, I chose to write about Ragetti, which I'm fairly certain I've never done before. I completely ignored the word count requirement, unfortunately, but excusing that, hope you enjoy!

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Prompt: Write a 500+ word response of a character/pairing that is not your favourite**. **

**As To A Lover  
**By Sinnamon Spider

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"Why d'you pick me?" Ragetti asked, rubbing absently at his wooden eye. "There's more better lookin' customers ou' there."

The pretty young whore shrugged, shy now that they were alone. She smiled at him. "You didn't act like m' usual customers," she said softly. "An' besides, I liked th' way you talked t' me." She inched closer on the bed. "Say some more."

His face flushed, Ragetti leaned in, whispering into the shell of her ear.

"Your hair 'minds me of th' hay me brothers an' me used t' play in, on our farm…"

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	5. The Goddess' Mark

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: I'm not completely satisfied with this, but seeing as it's been almost two weeks since the prompt, I figured I would just leave it alone and get it posted. Enjoy!

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Prompt: Scar or scars.

**The Goddess' Mark  
**By Sinnamon Spider

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As a rule, deities didn't bear remnants of their physical confrontations on their flesh.

There were a few exceptions, of course, as to any rule. Hephaestus had been maimed from birth, causing his mother, Hera, to throw him off Mount Olympus. Tyr's hand was bitten off by Fenrir, in order to seal the beast. But generally speaking, a god or goddess could not be marked by any hand save for their own.

This was more common among divinity than one would think. Odin allowed his eye to be taken in exchange for wisdom. And Attis, driven mad by Cybele for his infidelity, had castrated himself.

Calypso had never been tempted to mark herself. It had always seemed so…human.

But now, betrayed by her lover and as her weak mortal limbs trembled violently, she suddenly understood.

When they released her into the stinking swamp, far up the river, she stared at herself in the water's reflection. Her human face wavered in the water. Enraged, she struck the reflection with a helpless hand.

That night, she burned a series of symbols and markings onto her yielding mortal skin. Every line, every spot, every slash spoke of her betrayal and her shame. She tattooed herself with her own story of love lost and became all the more human. And so Tia Dalma was born.

Calypso had never been scarred.

Tia Dalma couldn't say the same.

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	6. Exile

A/N: I don't know where angsty!Will came from. I'm in a bit of a Willabeth mood, which is likely why I'm having so much trouble with chapter nine of Between Dark and Light. At any rate, I may as well put the muse to work doing _something_. Enjoy!

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Prompt: Solitude

**Exile**  
By Sinnamon Spider

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He used to relish being alone.

His was an art requiring careful concentration. Every line, every bend, every touch had to be perfect, or the final product would be flawed. With the steady ring of hammer on steel the only sound in the forge, he laboured alone to create his pieces and they were all the more perfect because of his solitude.

But now, even surrounded as he was by men bustling here and there in the organized chaos that the running of a ship required, he knew he was more alone than he had ever been before.

And he was not enjoying it.

Alone in his unending service to the ship and her duty, he toiled day after day. The crew shared his supernatural abilities, but their duty had an end in sight, a light at the end of the tunnel. His did not.

He sighed heavily, air rushing in and out of his empty chest, and his thoughts turned to his wayward heart and the woman who kept it safe.

He knew she was alone as well, and her solitude wounded him far more than his own.

The siren call sounded and the compulsion came over him once again, and he shook off his depression, losing himself in his task.

Three hundred and sixty five days remained until he would be alone no longer, if only for a day.

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	7. At War in Her Eyes

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: It's currently 4:55 AM here, and for some reason, I am still awake. So I thought I would do something productive with my time. Thanks to all who have reviewed!

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Prompt: Monster

**At War in Her Eyes  
**By Sinnamon Spider

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There was a hollow cracking sound, deep and ominous, of hundreds of pieces of wood breaking into pieces. Then, with a ferocious rush of water, the Black Pearl and her captain disappeared beneath the churning ocean, held fast in the vast tentacles of the Kraken.

Elizabeth viciously wiped the tears from her cheeks, concentrating on the gentle movement of the longboat as they rowed away from the carnage. But they spilled again, undaunted, grief and guilt at war in her eyes.

A monster had taken Jack Sparrow and his beautiful Pearl.

But that monster was not the Kraken.

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	8. The Coward's Escape

Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters belong to Disney.

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A/N: Don't you love it when a prompt spawns a hundred different plot bunnies and you have to narrow it down to one? Yeah, me neither. Thanks for all the reviews for previous chapters! Some day I'll get around to actually sending proper review replies, I promise.

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Prompt: Coward

**The Coward's Escape**  
By Sinnamon Spider

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In the chaos, it was almost too easy for him to slip away unnoticed.

He pulled the oars frantically, intent on putting as much distance between himself and his beautiful, doomed ship as he could.

He wished he could have been facing the opposite way, so the carnage would have been behind him.

Perhaps then, he would not have stopped rowing.

Dismay clawed at him as he watched the tentacles writhe and twist around the ship. Pieces of wood flew through the air, as did a few unlucky sailors, caught in the Kraken's unmerciful grip.

He glanced backward at the shore; inviting, safe, and really not all that far away, if he would only just start rowing again. But his eyes were drawn back to the battle his crew was waging on the sea monster; a battle they had no chance of winning.

His hands scrabbled at his waist, seizing the compass and wrenching it open. It only confirmed what he had already known.

His Pearl needed him. His crew needed him.

She needed him.

Swearing sulphurously, he began the journey back to his ship and almost certain doom.

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